The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 1674 - 21: Another Beginning

The Atlanta Hawks were the most active participants in the 1999 draft, bar none.

The Hawks have a very long history in the NBA, long enough that they were actually established before the NBA itself. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

The predecessor of the NBA, the BAA, was founded in 1949, while the Hawks’ predecessor, the Buffalo Bisons, was founded in 1946.

The Bisons quickly moved to Illinois, renamed the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, and became a team in the NBL (a professional league founded in 1935).

After the BAA was established in 1949, some NBL teams merged with the BAA and joined in, and in 1951 they moved to Milwaukee and renamed the Milwaukee Hawks.

In 1955, the Hawks could no longer stay in Milwaukee and moved to St. Louis, renaming themselves the St. Louis Hawks.

The years in St. Louis were the most glorious phase for the Hawks; they selected the legendary center Bob Pettit, who led them to become a top team in the NBA at the time.

Pettit was the pioneer of the tip-in technique. As a white player with average running and jumping ability, Pettit was once considered unlikely to survive in the league when he first joined.

Moreover, his temperament was mild, with a gentlemanly style in college, and the NBA in the 1950s and 60s was extremely rough, with fights being commonplace, and the paint being more like a battlefield. Pettit naturally struggled to adapt at first.

Later, the coach had him switch to play power forward, and Pettit started playing more outside, developing a style that suited his characteristics:

Mid-range shots as his main scoring method, using positioning and judgement to grab offensive rebounds for second-chance points, and drawing fouls to get to the free-throw line.

He abandoned his college-post play and no longer acted as the team’s offensive pivot, instead transforming into a tip-in expert under the basket.

In Pettit’s own words, "Offensive rebounds were worth 8 to 12 points for me every night. Then I’d get another 8 to 10 points from the free-throw line. Add a few jump shots, and that made for a wonderful night."

Pettit’s style of play paved a clear path for inside players who were not tall enough to play center, and lacked the agility and dribbling skills to play small forward.

In an era where centers dominated the inside, Pettit’s success enriched the inside play, laying an early foundation for the golden age of power forwards much later.

During that time, the Hawks reached the NBA Finals in 1957, 1958, 1960, and 1961, with opponents being the invincible Bill Russell and his Boston Celtics.

Unlike the unlucky Lakers, who lost six times, Pettit led the Hawks to defeat the Celtics and win the championship in 1958, scoring 50 points in the decisive sixth game to crown the victory.

But just this championship and victory over the Celtics gave Pettit and the Hawks ample bragging rights—Russell and the Celtics’ only lost the finals once in their 12 final appearances, in 1958.

It’s similar to Charles Barkley leading the Bullets to defeat Gan Guoyang and the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1988 finals, a victory enough for Barkley to boast about for a lifetime.

And now, Barkley is considering joining the Portland Trail Blazers—provided Gan Guoyang can withstand an FBI investigation.

After Pettit retired in 1965, the Hawks’ owner began to consider moving the team away from St. Louis due to the city’s small basketball market and lack of a venue to accommodate enough fans.

After various attempts to find a larger venue failed, in 1968 the team was sold to a real estate businessman in Atlanta, and the team moved to the capital of Georgia, becoming the Atlanta Hawks, continuing to this day.

In the decades that followed, the Hawks ushered in waves of basketball talent and opportunities for resurgence, but they seemed unable to seize them, leading to a team that always hovered in mediocrity and couldn’t become a truly competitive force in the league.

They had Pete Maravich, but ultimately let him go.

They drafted David Thompson, but Thompson refused to play for the Hawks and joined the ABA instead.

They acquired Dominique Wilkins in the 80s but never managed to get past the divisional semifinals.

By the mid-90s, the Hawks signed Mutombo in the free agent market, embarking on another round of rebuilding.

Unfortunately, the Hawks were always overshadowed by strong teams like the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, and Miami Heat.

Reaching the NBA Finals was unthinkable, and once again, the Eastern Conference semifinals became an insurmountable obstacle for them. In people’s minds, the Hawks always seemed like a pseudo-strong team.

After consecutive years of failing to advance to the NBA Finals or win a championship, after the 1998-1999 season, the Hawks once again decided to press the reset button.

The core trio of Van Exel, Reiner, and Mutombo was dismantled, with Van Exel being traded to the Golden State Warriors.

The Hawks received the Warriors’ 1999 first-round draft pick, selecting Jason Terry as the new frontline engine of the team.

Next, the Hawks sent Reiner to the Detroit Pistons, achieving another 1999 first-round draft pick, and selected Julian Jones, only to trade him to the Philadelphia 76ers for a 2000 draft pick.

The Hawks also had another 1999 first-round draft pick from a 1997 trade, using it to select shooting guard Dean Glover.

With their own 20th pick in the draft, the Hawks chose Chinese player Wang Zhizhi.

With a total of four draft picks, aside from one that was traded, the Hawks selected a point guard, a shooting guard, and an inside player.